Post by imhotep06 on May 15, 2016 0:06:56 GMT -5
Check out my presentation at the 33rd Annual ASCAC Conference in Atlanta, GA. The title of my presentation is "The Afro-Symmetry Model and Paronymy: A structural analysis of language as a vehicle for culture creation among Negro-Egyptian speakers." I hope you enjoy.
LINK: youtu.be/sie02ev_3rQ
ABSTRACT:
LINK: youtu.be/sie02ev_3rQ
ABSTRACT:
It is common knowledge that the ancient Egyptians were fond of what Egyptologists call “punning,” which is a form of word play that suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words or of similar-sounding words, for an intended rhetorical effect. A better explanation of this phenomenon in ancient Egyptian is what linguists call paronymy. A paronym is (1) A word that is derived from the same root as another word but has a different syntactic use (e.g., perilous and parlous), or (2) A word linked to another by similarity of form (e.g., “preface” is a paronym of Latin “prefatio”). The ancient Egyptians utilized paronymy to create many of the overall themes in their myths. A well known example of paronymy can be found in the Coffin Texts (spell 1130), where rmj (the) “Sun God” [Wb 2, 417], i.e., “Ra,” creates rmT.w “humankind” [Wb 2, 424.15-16] from his rm.yt “tears” [Wb 2, 417.14-15; FCD 149]. The mere similarity in the pronunciation of these words was enough to suggest, in the ancient Egyptian mind, a relationship between these concepts and thus a theme for the myth emerges. This presentation argues that this phenomenon is not isolated to ancient Egypt, but is common across Africa. It is this linguistic practice that is responsible for not only many of the cosmological myths across Africa, but for the emergence of certain social practices and cultural motifs that have come to identify African culture in general. This is explained by processes discovered during the reconstruction of the Negro-Egyptian (N-E) language family for which the ancient Egyptian, and many other modern African languages, is a member of (Diop 1974, Obenga 1993, Mboli 2010).
To explain this practice among N-E speakers, the author has developed what he calls the Afro- or African Symmetry Model (ASM), which is a theoretical framework designed to guide the production of knowledge as it regards the psychological formation of certain African spiritual, cultural, and artistic conceptualizations, practices, and motifs that define African civilizations. Symmetry, here, refers to the similarity or exact correspondence between different things as captured in the language. This integrative thought process is the opposite of what we find, generally, among Indo-European (I-E) speakers. Thus, given any two objects, the I-E speaker seeks primarily to detect what separates them (i.e., how they are different), while the N-E speaker tries to discover their points of convergence in an effort to unite them into a single entity that contains and explains them both. For the N-E speaker, the two objects or concepts, if found to have a perceived commonality, are seen as manifestations of the same reality and are complementary. This explains why the goddess mAa.t “Maat” [Wb 2, 20.10-13; LGG III, 222 ff.], for example, is associated with mAa.t “truth, justice, righteousness, order,” and is depicted with bird feathers as a result of the words mAa “a duck” [Wb 2, 24.8; vgl. Godron, BIFAO 56, 1957, 19 f.] and mAa.w “wind; breeze” [Wb 2, 23.15-24.5; FCD 102; Lesko, Dictionary I, 206; Wilson, Ptol. Lexikon, 395]. These ideas, and others, converge into a central entity called mAa.t based solely on the similarity of form of the independent words that define her. This practice is ancient and can be detected in the earliest stages of N-E.
In this presentation, I will demonstrate how paronymy was used in early N-E to develop a symantax (i.e., worldview) that translated into experience among N-E speakers various ideas, ritual practices, and motifs associated with the king (Middle-Egyptian nsw.t bjt.j): e.g., the crown, staff, leopard skin, and throne. These motifs associated with the ruler have been borrowed by I-E speakers and are now common emblems that identify the office of king. However, it is only through the language family of N-E, and the process of paronymy, that explains the reason for their synergy and their association with kingship.
To explain this practice among N-E speakers, the author has developed what he calls the Afro- or African Symmetry Model (ASM), which is a theoretical framework designed to guide the production of knowledge as it regards the psychological formation of certain African spiritual, cultural, and artistic conceptualizations, practices, and motifs that define African civilizations. Symmetry, here, refers to the similarity or exact correspondence between different things as captured in the language. This integrative thought process is the opposite of what we find, generally, among Indo-European (I-E) speakers. Thus, given any two objects, the I-E speaker seeks primarily to detect what separates them (i.e., how they are different), while the N-E speaker tries to discover their points of convergence in an effort to unite them into a single entity that contains and explains them both. For the N-E speaker, the two objects or concepts, if found to have a perceived commonality, are seen as manifestations of the same reality and are complementary. This explains why the goddess mAa.t “Maat” [Wb 2, 20.10-13; LGG III, 222 ff.], for example, is associated with mAa.t “truth, justice, righteousness, order,” and is depicted with bird feathers as a result of the words mAa “a duck” [Wb 2, 24.8; vgl. Godron, BIFAO 56, 1957, 19 f.] and mAa.w “wind; breeze” [Wb 2, 23.15-24.5; FCD 102; Lesko, Dictionary I, 206; Wilson, Ptol. Lexikon, 395]. These ideas, and others, converge into a central entity called mAa.t based solely on the similarity of form of the independent words that define her. This practice is ancient and can be detected in the earliest stages of N-E.
In this presentation, I will demonstrate how paronymy was used in early N-E to develop a symantax (i.e., worldview) that translated into experience among N-E speakers various ideas, ritual practices, and motifs associated with the king (Middle-Egyptian nsw.t bjt.j): e.g., the crown, staff, leopard skin, and throne. These motifs associated with the ruler have been borrowed by I-E speakers and are now common emblems that identify the office of king. However, it is only through the language family of N-E, and the process of paronymy, that explains the reason for their synergy and their association with kingship.
